Ford Lehman engine myso

[timm]

Good day all
This is a post from Tim moored in Greece

Would appreciate your thoughts on a mystery I have on a 6cylinder Ford Lehman engine I replaced 10 years ago.
I live in South Africa and spend the summers in Greece.With the recent Covit nonsense the last time 3 years ago that I tried to start the engine it jammed and I could only turn it by hand with a large shifting spanner between 10 am and 2 pm backwards and forwards with a solid sounding clunk at each end of this short stroke.
Well, this year I have traveled to Greece with a pal of mine to do whatever it takes to solve this problem.
Took everything off the engine including the ,gearbox,flywheel, starter ,alternator,and injectors.
Each time I took something off I tried turning the engine by hand on the front crankshaft nut to see if it would turn completely and each time the same 10 am to 2 pm solid sounding clunk.
Then we took off the head and voila !! bring out the champagne !!! the engine now turns freely.
Now the BIG mystery:
There appears there is nothing wrong with the block and head
Took all the valves out one by one to see if one of them was sticking and ALL move freely up and down.
I am loathe to reassemble the engine as I cannot for the life of me understand why this jamming happened in the first place.
There was nothing we could see that could have caused this while we took everything off.
The only thing still connected to the crank are the timing gears,diesel injector pump and camshaft.
We are going to measure the total movement of each piston down and ensure they all come up exactly to the top of the block.
We are going to replace the 2 no 6 cylinder push rods and physically try to hold them back so as to put them under load in case the cam turns easily under no load but under load might indicate it is sheared in two pieces
Have been in contact with Brian from Lehman and he has been most helpful but even he can’t seem to have a solution.said whatever jammed the engine must have now come loose.But what?This all has taken us 2 weeks in difficult conditions as the original owner should have used the 4 cylinder engine and he shoe -horned the 6 in with no clearance around to work with
The head is out on the deck with all the other stuff and the block is still in position.
To drop the sump is a major job as the cockpit floor has to be cut out and then the engine lifted.
All this has been done with the boat in the water as I would have to be towed to a marina 30 klms away.
Any suggestions would be most welcome
This is a Transpacific 49 ketch
The engine has done very little work and always well looked after.

 

[Cigatoo]

Welcome. When you solve this problem (and you will) please let us know the solution.

Good luck.

 

[KnotYet]

At what point in the disassembly did you disconnect the injection pump,
if at all. I'm curious if it could be involved. Likewise the other pumps.
Another thought is can you see any faint sign of touching on the
piston tops in case a valve's rocker had kept it from closing?

 

[Lepke]

Check the timing gears. A broken tooth can give that result.

 

[SteveK]

Well if it is not the damper and not water in #6, not bent valves or rods, then this will be a learning moment of what else can go wrong.

 

[Mambo42]

Interesting to read your story, I am dealing with exactly the same problem. My Stbd engine is solid frozen, can't move it a single inch.
However, I did find 1.9 hours on the engine log that cannot be explained, so am guessing the engine seized when they ran it without cooling.

I did do a boroscope of the cylinders, nothing wrong there. But whatever we tried, that engine would not turn at all. Removed the gearbox, still no movement, so that engine had to come out.
Then I did a compression test on the port engine and turned out I had lost a lot of compression. So made the decision to exchange both engines. Was able to find 2 completely overhauled engines in the Netherlands for a decent price, so they will go in soon.
It is a lot of money that I need to spend, but I figured better do it now and exchange 2 engines than find myself somewhere on the water with the port engine also gone and do the whole procedure again.
The boat is currently lying in marina Gouvia in Corfu on the dry, but wish I had been in marina Cleopatra. Prices are much more friendly there.

If you wish to find completely overhauled engines (block plus fuel pump) for about 5000 euro (ex VAT) each, you can contact Engine overhaul service De Schiffart in the Netherlands. They are specialized in Ford Lehman and you will get a tested, brand new engine in return. You just ship them your engine and they will give you a new one in return.
Transport cost from Athens to this company are about 900 euro (for 2 engines) one way.

Once the engines are at this company I hope to find out what the hack happened with my engines, like for you, it is a complete mystery what caused the Stbd engine to seize completely. So far the only explanation is running the engine without cooling.

 

[OldDan1943]

Check the timing gears. A broken tooth can give that result.

 

[timm]

Thank you Mambo for your detailed reply and all the useful info.You might have a cylinder head gasket kit for sale?
Regards
Tim

 

[timm]

Thank you Lepke

 

[Mambo42]

I think I have a cylinder head gasket lying here, let me check tomorrow, it is under the bed and my wife is already asleep
It is a gasket for a 2715E.

 

[Mambo42]

Thank you Mambo for your detailed reply and all the useful info.You might have a cylinder head gasket kit for sale?
Regards
Tim

Tim,

Good news, sorry for the delay, but I have a gasket lying here. You can call me on
00 30 698 046 5327
That is my Greek simcard.

 

[Juggerknot]

Good day all
This is a post from Tim moored in Greece

Would appreciate your thoughts on a mystery I have on a 6cylinder Ford Lehman engine I replaced 10 years ago.
I live in South Africa and spend the summers in Greece.With the recent Covit nonsense the last time 3 years ago that I tried to start the engine it jammed and I could only turn it by hand with a large shifting spanner between 10 am and 2 pm backwards and forwards with a solid sounding clunk at each end of this short stroke.
Well, this year I have traveled to Greece with a pal of mine to do whatever it takes to solve this problem.
Took everything off the engine including the ,gearbox,flywheel, starter ,alternator,and injectors.
Each time I took something off I tried turning the engine by hand on the front crankshaft nut to see if it would turn completely and each time the same 10 am to 2 pm solid sounding clunk.
Then we took off the head and voila !! bring out the champagne !!! the engine now turns freely.
Now the BIG mystery:
There appears there is nothing wrong with the block and head
Took all the valves out one by one to see if one of them was sticking and ALL move freely up and down.
I am loathe to reassemble the engine as I cannot for the life of me understand why this jamming happened in the first place.
There was nothing we could see that could have caused this while we took everything off.
The only thing still connected to the crank are the timing gears,diesel injector pump and camshaft.
We are going to measure the total movement of each piston down and ensure they all come up exactly to the top of the block.
We are going to replace the 2 no 6 cylinder push rods and physically try to hold them back so as to put them under load in case the cam turns easily under no load but under load might indicate it is sheared in two pieces
Have been in contact with Brian from Lehman and he has been most helpful but even he can’t seem to have a solution.said whatever jammed the engine must have now come loose.But what?This all has taken us 2 weeks in difficult conditions as the original owner should have used the 4 cylinder engine and he shoe -horned the 6 in with no clearance around to work with
The head is out on the deck with all the other stuff and the block is still in position.
To drop the sump is a major job as the cockpit floor has to be cut out and then the engine lifted.
All this has been done with the boat in the water as I would have to be towed to a marina 30 klms away.
Any suggestions would be most welcome
This is a Transpacific 49 ketch
The engine has done very little work and always well looked after.

I'd replace the head and bar it over, if good, add one component at a time continuing the process. No time wasted and you'll find the issue through deduction.

 

[timm]

Thank you

 

[Nepidae]

Ford Lehman

You should know that the only person to talk to about a Ford Lehman engine is Brian Smith at American Diesel (https://americandieselcorp.com/). They are truly the experts.

Brian's father was 1 of the developers of the FL engine marinization so he REALLY knows the engine.

Very nice and helpful.
You'll get a lot of bad information on forums, but not from Brian. They also have parts.

Good luck.

 

[kapnd]

Sounds like a damper plate to me, or loose bolts on flywheel, or in the gear train, or as mentioned earlier, broken gear or foreign object in gear train.
I’d get the head professionally renewed as long as it’s already removed.